Garden of Roses
by Dark Daimon
Summary: Jesse and Melanie are cousins who finally escape their abusive aunt and uncle, in exchange for attending Balamb Garden in hopes of becomming SeeDs. PreFF8, Major self insertion so read at your own risk.
1. Chapter I Prologue

**Garden of Roses**

**A/N: **Hey all! Weird, seeing a fic of mine in a category like this, eh? Well, I hate to tell you, but it's major self insertion -.- if you don't like it, then don't click on the dang STORY LINK! Geez…I'm so annoyed with that. THE CHARACTERS IN THIS FIC ARE _NOT_ MARY-SUE'S OR MARTY-STUE'S! If you think otherwise, well that's okay XD I don't care, cause it's my story!

Anyways…for those of you who DO NOT mind self insertions, I sincerely hope you enjoy this story! ) Just to tell you, the main characters of FF8 are not the main cast this time around! New cast! Yes…that's right. MUAHAHAHA! Yeah, cause this is about 1 or 2 years BEFORE FF8 begins. I'd like to figure out which time setting to choose with the help of your reviews, if ya don't mind! Stick to this story, cause there will be many chapters to come! Just going to tell you, Balamb Garden's curriculum is slightly matched to that as a highschool, as in, besides training, there would of course be actual subjects such as mathematics and English in reality. So, read the fic, have fun, and tell me what you think:)

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its properties. I also do not own Melanie, as she is my cousin and I don't think you can buy family members o.O AND any new characters that are actually my friends in real life, I do NOT own. XD

**CHAPTER I : PROLOGUE**

It had never occurred to me that the plan I had begun would carry out this far. Yet, it was true; I was rescuing us. For years and years, me and my cousin, Melanie, who was more like my sister then anything, had dreamed and wished to escape our "house" in Deling city, and finally, a plan that seemed to be promising came up, opening the walkway from our home to new opportunities. Seeing this bridge, I was NOT going to let it go untouched, and immediately seized it.

At the age of four, Melanie, and five, me, while our parents were out on the highway, they suffered a fatal and horrible death. Our parents knew a couple living in Deling by the names of Hector and Bridgette Volent. We hadn't really met them, but they were apparently considered our aunt and uncle, although there was obviously no biological connection. The life from the time of our youth to the time of now, ten years later, was a living and breathing hell. Aunt Bridgette was abusive, and she hit us very often...Uncle Hector wasn't much of a help—perhaps if he were sober twenty-four-seven, he would take action to Aunt Bridgette's violent ways, but his idea of solving a problem was hard, cold liquor from the basement freezer.

By the time we were eight, being mistreated and realizing that nobody was coming to take us away from them, Melanie and I realized that the only one who would take proper care of ourselves was each other. She and I were inseparable, a barely EVER bickered. We didn't spend much time at home, which sure wasn't a problem since Aunty and Uncle weren't responsible enough to set boundaries. Instead, we let the historic beauty of Deling city amuse us, and by going out every weekend to do odd jobs, such as wash windows and what-not, we read novels while most of the other children around us watched their very own television sets propped right at the end of their bed. We did not pay much mind to this, as our imagination grew far stronger then theirs could ever grow.

It was at the age of twelve that I first, only once, listened to the words of my Aunt Bridgette. She had slapped me, and told me I should act more like a man. These words confused me, considering the age I was, so I asked her to be more elaborate. She basically ended up telling me I should be everything she should've been all those years. I doubt she realized this as she spoke, but something in me signaled, "Jesse! This is the sign! You have to do something!"

I had been in the school library, when I found a magazine all about Balamb Garden. It seemed so thrilling, to go to a military type of academy, where we could live, to learn how to fight and do battle, so that one day, we may be able to pass an exam, allowing ourselves into the military program SeeD! Melanie was sick that day...I ran home. I didn't think twice, and I didn't tell the school I was going, but I just ran, and barged in our bedroom, flapping the magazine in her face. I will never forget the pure joy on Melanie's face when I told her the plan. We would run to Balamb.

Such a journey to Balamb Island, would have a cost fair for the bus ride to drive us all the way to Dollet, and then more of a cost fair to get on a boat to Balamb, would be most expensive, and going to Galbadia Garden may have been easier, but we didn't want to have to transfer back to Balamb to become a SeeD. However, this was the only flaw in our plan. I confronted our aunt, and told her Melanie and I were going to Balamb—I didn't ask it as a question. The confrontation wasn't as dangerous as I had thought, and she seemed thrilled we would be leaving, and would be on the first bus away. At first I hesitated on this reaction, contemplating on whether or not I should have been sad she did not want me...then I realized I did not want her in return, and Melanie and I immediately began to pack...we didn't even say goodbye, we just collected our money and left. and now, here we are.

"Jesse..." Melanie called to me quietly, holding onto her heavy bag that slugged onto the ground. "It's raining..."

Indeed, the pouring pure substance from the clouds pitter-pattered its way onto us. I sighed beneath the trickling droplets rolling down my face, and swung an arm over her, holding her right. "It's okay." I assured.

"When will the bus be here...?"

"I dunno..." I shrugged and looked to the rode in the distance, as if two headlights would appear over the now pitch black horizon. "Life will be better there...right?" I asked her timidly. She was silent, and because of this, I chose not to ask once more. The blessed honking horn in the distance caused us to jerk our heads only to see a large bus come our way. It stopped in front of us, and it's squeaky, screeching doors opened, revealing a smiling, slightly chubby, bus driver.

Melanie stammered. "Woah..." she mumbled tiredly. I looked at my watch. It was 1 AM. Attempting to pick up both of our bags, I failed and sighed, growling and scowling at the luggage.

"Umm..."

"Need help?" The bus driver asked. We nodded, tiredly, looking at our feet in a daze. "No problem. Earl, help them out." He asked his assistant, who climbed down, grabbing our bags, and going back in the bus. He led us to the end of the bus, wear the entire back was a full leather seat. Melanie and I slowly walked to the back, and sat down tiredly. Earl reached into the cabinets and retrieved two fluffy, white pillows for us. The lights were dim, and the bus began to drive. As we left our home of Deling, Melanie and I stared at all our troubles go away.

"We made it, Jesse..." I heard her whisper beside me. Looking at her, I saw she drifted to sleep immediately, and I soon felt my eyes become heavy as well. Soon, I could not lift them anymore.

A bright light shone through my eyelids, causing me to see a soft, dreamy red color. Slowly, my eyes opened, and I looked around, almost forgetting where I actually was. No, I was in the bus, not my room...I was going to Balamb with Melanie. Melanie! I looked over beside me at her, wear she rested the pillow against my shoulder. The poor girl was still slumbering peacefully...I hoped dearly that she didn't catch a cold.

The first thing I had noticed was how the bus was now, in contrast to how it was last night. There were maybe three or four people in the seats far ahead of us, and I suspected them to be hitchhikers or something of that sort. Being careful not to disturb Melanie, I looked out the window to the bright prairies, and what I saw amazed me. In the distance, there stood Galbadia Garden...the largest Garden academy in all of Gaia. I wanted so badly to shake Melanie awake, but I knew she had a rough night and mentally stopped myself from doing so.

I did not understand. I could not comprehend. How had we come up with a plan like this? Why had it not occurred to us before? As we drove farther and farther away from Balamb, I felt Melanie stir, and soon, she sat up, letting out a long yawn, standing on the bus to stretch. As the bus jerked, she let herself fall back onto the seat beside me. I smiled at her. "Had a good sleep?" I asked. She nodded, humming in reply. "You missed Galbadia."

She frowned and her jaw dropped. "Aw, no! I wanted to see it!" I laughed slightly and gave a sympathetic smile.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll see it anyways, someday."

Melanie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." She chuckled. "What time is it?"

Looking at my watch, I let out a sigh. "2 PM. And we still have a looooong ways to go." I watched her groan and turn around to look at her passing scenery, sitting on her knees, resting her head on her folded arms.

"You asked me something last night..." she said, suddenly. I cocked an eyebrow.

"I did?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "You asked me if life would be better there, and I didn't really know the answer, so I kind of just went silent."

"Oh, yeah." I nodded, remembering.

"...The answer is 'yes'."

"How so?"

Melanie smirked at me, raising her eyebrows playfully. "Any life is better then the one we had."

There was a moment's silence, and I nodded. "Like my saying: there's always a bright side to everything! You just have to look. This is our bright side, right?"

"Right." She smiled.

"That's good." I giggled slightly.

"Are you scared, Jesse?" she asked.

"A little, I suppose." I admitted, as I pushed my light brown hair out of my eyes. My hair was a light brownish color, and went down to nearly the end of my neck. I wore it flat and un-styled, as I lacked the expertise to spike or mess it. I was about five-foot-seven and a half inches, and was extremely thin for a boy of fifteen. My green eyes seemed to match my hair all right enough for me. My fair complexion toned nicely against my lucky black hoody.

Melanie had long brown hair that slung just below her shoulders. She too, was fair, and had luminous blue eyes. She wore, at the time, a light blue sweater and blue jeans. "You don't need to be afraid." She finally said, after what seemed like hours.

"Yes I do." He nodded. "This is a totally new place."

"But isn't that a good thing?"

"How do you know? Last time we were brought to a 'new place', we met Aunt Bridgette and Uncle Hector."

Melanie sighed at me and gave a half smile. "Jesse..." she began, "Even if it was, we got through that didn't we? Look where we are! I seriously thought we'd be there for the rest of our lives, but we're not! We got out!"

I hesitated at her words, which in truth did touch me. I shrugged and nodded. "I guess you're right." I laughed slightly. "Crap, I need to start being more optimistic, don't I?" Both of us laughed, and turned to take note of the scenery, waiting for our arrival to Dollet, where we would take a boat to Balamb Town.

"Geez..." Melanie groaned. "Of course, we just HAD to arrive at Dollet at 1 in the morning. It's the bus all over again." She sighed as she tiredly carried her bag onto the boat, following me. "Jesse, slow down, it's heavy."

"You need help?"

She shook her head. "No, I can manage. But let's find a cot as soon as we can."

"Won't be too hard." I shrugged, winking. "Here we are." I gestured to two cots, and sighing in relief, Melanie immediately dropped her bag beside one of them. "Wanna just turn in?"

"If you want."

"Well, what do you want to do?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter to me." Melanie shook her head. "Depends on if you're tired or not."

I was, but I was certainly not bored. Tomorrow, we would arrive at Balamb Garden, and that certainly was a conversation to strike up. The two of us talked up until about three AM, laughing, and constantly bringing up new conversations. When together and awake, Melanie and I act very silly and extremely hyper and happy, laughing about everything and anything. Laughter was one of the things that got us this far, and I was most happy to see that it still had a place in our moods.

It was I who decided when to turn in, as usual, and I was not too happy about that. I hate to decide things. I always think it should be someone else who makes decisions, and not me. However, then I suppose the person I am forcing the decision on most probably thinks the exact same way that I do. All in all, as usual, the two of us had a good, solid night sleep, and were awakened by the fog horn at about 10 AM. Tiredly, the two of us raised our heads from the cots, and looked out the portholes to see Balamb Island extremely close. Collecting our things, Melanie and I walked to the exit, where we walked into the port of Balamb Town.

"Jesse, look at everyone!" Melanie said, gesturing to other adolescents and children under the age of about eighteen or nineteen years old, as young as about five or six!

I looked at them all for a moment, and mumbled, "They're all going to Balamb."

"How can you tell?"

"Cause someone's leading them in a large vehicle." I said, walking towards the strangely robed man. "Excuse me? Is this for Garden?"

"It most certainly is." He said cheerfully. "Are you coming to our fine Garden this wonderful September?"

"Yes sir, we are." I said, pulling Melanie a little closer to me to make sure she was noticed.

"Step into this vehicle then." He pointed to the door. Smiling at each other, Melanie and I climbed into the vehicle, and soon, the large car drove onto the highway, towards Balamb. I refrained myself from looking at Garden, only wanting to see it when we arrived.

"Melanie, seriously there, don't tell me what it looks like." I urged.

"Why?" Melanie asked, in a confused tone of voice.

"I want it to be a surprise..." I said meekly. Melanie laughed.

"Okay, okay, fine."

"It looks nice though, right?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "Very."

"...Great, now I wanna look!"

"Jesse, we're here, you can look anyway." She shook her head. The car door swung open, and Melanie and I stepped out, arriving in front of the humongous military academy, known only as the one and only Balamb Garden...


	2. Chapter II: Stupid homerooms!

**Garden of Roses**

**A/N: **Hey! I'm SO sorry for the long wait. I kinda have had a jam-packed time in between chapter one and chapter two, but I'm back. Plus, introductions can be so annoying, cause you have to introduce everything, and all the setting and what-not and...well, anyways, the story will probably go more smooth once we get some more drama in it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its properties. o.O AND any new characters that are actually my friends in real life, I do NOT own. XD

**CHAPTER II : Stupid homerooms!**

"Hey!" one of the drivers scolded the student who opened the car door. I was lucky it had not been me, since I do not take being in 'trouble' all too well. "We're not there yet! Does this LOOK like the parking lot?" the student shrugged and just walked back in the vehicle, followed by me. Parking lot? That means someday, if I'm lucky and can afford it, maybe I'll get a car?

"It's big isn't it?" Melanie asked me, breaking my thoughts. I looked over at her in time to see a huge happy grin upon her face. I nodded enthusiastically, looking out the window.

"Yeah! Bigger then I thought it would be!" I commented. "I mean, I knew it'd be bigger then anything we've seen but..."

"Not this big, huh?" Melanie finished my sentence. I nodded, gulping from excitement. Balamb Garden was so huge, and all aside, so BEAUTIFUL as well. I overheard the bells ringing, sounding like giant chimes, and my ears were delighted and satisfied. Obviously the bell had been a test run; otherwise, we'd probably be late for class.

One thing I could not get passed me was how natural everything looked with plants. It was as if there was no sign of pollution. However, when we pulled into the parking lot, the scenery wasn't NEARLY as nice as the rest of the school, but it wasn't as if we'd just waltz into the parking lot for no reason at all. As I looked out in the other stalls, I could see other vehicles, hundreds, carrying more students. And all at once, we all were let out, and followed the driver that drove us from Balamb through the school. I gripped onto Melanie's arm, because the crowd seemed so huge, full of students afraid to stray to far away from their leader, as not to get lost. "How many times do you think we'll get lost?" I asked her.

"I dunno." She smirked. "I know it'll take me a while to find everything."

"Yeah." I nodded. "We've never been to a place like this." The bells rang again, this time more of them. "Think they're sound testing?"

"Probably."

"They sound real nice, though." I pondered what was wrong with the bells. Or perhaps, they were just playing them over and over, in case they suddenly stopped working. It never occurred to me that they maybe needed to be 'broken in'.

"Yeah, but just watch," Mel began, "In a couple of weeks, we'll groan at the sound of them."

I laughed. "Yeah, but with the kind of training we'll have, we'll never be bored."

"Don't be so sure."

"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, when we were little, we thought the stuff we'd be learning in school was exciting." She explained, "And it was, for a little while. But now what do we think about it?"

"It's boring!"

"Exactly." She smiled. "And that's—" she stopped talking as she tripped slightly, but quickly recovered as we turned the corner. "Sorry...and that's why I said what I said. Plus, we'll probably still learn all the stuff we've learned in other schools in different kinds of classes."

"Well don't ruin the experience!" I laughed. The hallways were extremely long, and perhaps Melanie and I were making small talk due to our nervous behavior. We knew not a soul in the crowd around us, and it wasn't as if we were more then willing at this time to go up to someone and say 'Hey! I'm Jesse! What's your name?' We thought it too soon to do something to that extent.

I looked at the time on my watch, at took note that the time was no quarter after eleven. Everything was happening so fast, it was difficult to believe that two days ago, we stood in Deling City, and now we were on the island of Balamb, about to be enrolled into a military academy this very day. "Nervous?" Melanie asked.

"No, just excited."

"Yeah, me too." She looked down at her feet as she walked, afraid that she may trip due to the crowd around us that seemed to be growing more and more as we walked. It seemed as though the school was built circular, and every now and then, we passed by crossroads in the hallways, noticing a sign that said "Cafeteria" pointing in the direction of one hall. We soon found that the one who drove the car to Garden finally led us out of the circled hallway, and passed an elevator into a more roomy section of the school. I guessed it must have been the main lobby, as there were benches every which way, and in the center was a large map of Balamb Garden. I took note of this area, and remembered that I would have to constantly remind myself to refer to the map.

My legs were getting tired and I was growing weary, desiring a seat. I looked over at Melanie, who was gazing at her surroundings, and wondered if she felt the same way. This whole experience was draining for the both of us, and I was more then positive that we would be happy once we got into the routine of Garden. A bright light shone as we stepped outside, in a sort of courtyard-type place, where more students stood and chattered amongst themselves. The one who drove us turned to us and said: "Please wait here. You're the second set of students to come, and we have another group to be expected. When they arrive, Headmaster Cid will make his opening speech." And he walked away.

I leaned against a pillar, slinging my bag over my shoulder, and I crossed my arms. Melanie sat down on the ground, leaning against the same pillar, except using her bag as a sort of pillow. "So, what do we do now?" she asked.

I merely shrugged. "I dunno..." I sighed, "We don't know anyone yet...and I bet half of these people have been here before."

"Yeah, probably." Melanie nodded in agreement. "We're the noobs here."

I grinned and chuckled slightly, and we continued to stare among the large array of students before us. They all seemed happy, talking amongst themselves, some showing off their weapons, and the boys attempted to tempt the girls with their new skills, but only a few succeeded, receiving pathetic swoons from girls. I looked over at the other students. Some hand boom box's sitting on top of their shoulder, pounding loud music of all kinds. In one corner, a boom box sat on the ground, playing up-beat music, followed by a group of about five girls who danced in synchronized motions.

Then there were the loners. Surprisingly enough, there weren't many loners at Balamb Garden. There were a few scattered, and they looked extremely private and somehow, constantly PO'd. I didn't feel sorry for them, because if they chose not to be with anyone, that was obviously their decision to make. One thing I looked forward to seeing was the uniforms of Balamb Garden. I really like uniforms. Formal wear, to me, is comfortable, regardless of the constant hate channeled towards it. Nobody, at this time, was wearing their uniform. Everyone was pretty much wearing casual wears. I looked over at Melanie, who was obviously daydreaming.

Looking at my watch, I realized it had been a half hour. As if the planet read my mind full of inpatients, the rest of the students arrived, appearing as a tad smaller number then the last two groups. Students from all groups seemed to meet enthusiastically, as Melanie and I were left alone, unknowing to all. We looked over at a small stage the instructors seemed to have set up, and watched as a middle aged brunette man walked on top of it, a mike in his hand. The crowd broke out in applause, and Melanie and I followed suite, coming to the conclusion that this must be the 'Headmaster Cid'. He smiled, and raised his hand, and almost instantly, the crowds cheering slowly died down.

"Hello." He greeted as he pushed up his glasses. "For those of you who don't know, I am Cid, your headmaster of Balamb Garden. So far today, I've seen many old faces from last year, having experienced their first year in Balamb already. I've also seen many new faces that will be starting Balamb Garden this year; please make them feel at home. And alas, I've also seen many eighteen year old students who have been hear since they were knee-high, and will be departing this year whether or whether not they become SeeD's. Best of luck to all of them!

"Now, for all you new students, I want you to be aware that Balamb is your home, your domain, and we WILL treat you well here. Yes, the training will be tough, but the way I see it, you won't get anything out of life without a little hard work. Take a good luck around, people, because the people around you will be your family from now on.

"You will be in standard grades, according to your school history. Six year olds in grade one, fifteen year olds in grade ten, etcetera. Some exceptions will be made."

I looked at Melanie, who had stood to listen to the speech, with her arms folded. She was in my grade back in Deling too. We were both in grade ten, because we started at the same time. "Now," Cid continued, "As for the rest of you who have attended Balamb once before, all the same rules apply. New students will be given a sheet of rules on their bed to go over today, and are expected to know them by heart. The newly appointed Disciplinary Committee leader last year, Seifer Almasy, has the remaining title this year, and will go over a few guidelines with your classes, along with the rest of the committee. Your names have been sorted into homerooms, and are posted on the walls in the main lobby.

"You must enjoy yourself as you do your hard work." He commented, "These years WILL be the best ones of your life. That is all. You are dismissed."

Melanie and I smiled at each other tiredly. "Okay, so, ready to see who our home room teacher is?"

Carrying on the same fatigue filled look, Melanie nodded, and walked with me to the main lobby, crossing her arms. I figured she was cold, regardless of the sweater she wore. Of course, there could always be a chance that it was just the sleeping sand in her eyes. We listened to the comfortable melodies against our ears, emitting off the boom box's some students held on their shoulders.

One thing I couldn't get passed was how fricken tall all the guys were compared to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not short at all, but I'm not exactly the tallest guy. Standing at nearly five foot eight, I felt two feet tall compared to all the other nearly six foot guys. However, I could always just look at the girls substantially shorter then me to help out my confidence, and I stood up straight instead of slouching, in attempt to get a LITTLE bit taller.

Somehow, the trip to the main lobby seemed longer then the trip _from_ the main lobby. However, this was mostly due to the amount of students clustered together, trying as hard as they could to find out where their home room was. They had the homerooms listed by surname, meaning, to find Melanie's homeroom first, we would have to find the E section for females. Why they separated the males and females names, yet still put them in the same classes together was beyond my knowledge.

Finally, we found the girls list of "E" surnames. I stroked my finger down the endless array of names, and finally landed on what I searched for: 'Escuro, Melanie – Room 201, Trepe, Quistis.' I turned to her. "You have Instructor Trepe, in room 201."

She blinked. "Do you think they're cool?"

"I dunno." I winked. "I guess we'll find out. Hold on a second, I need to find mine now." We walked to the males "A" list of surnames and it took me a while to find my name, as it was at the bottom of the list. I read it. 'Atae, Jesse – Room 242, Eiyuu, Vir.' I blinked and smiled to myself for a moment, until the feeling had sunken in. Melanie and I had different homerooms...we shared everything. We had no secrets. We were ALWAYS together, no matter what...after all, the way we grew up, we had to be always together...

...But now, we were in different homerooms and what about our classes? I only hoped she'd be in the same classes, as she was conveniently moved up to my grade at an early age. I turned to her, and her sad look, having seen my home room number and instructor, told me she knew exactly what I was thinking. There was an odd silence between us. "Between classes?" I asked, attempting to break the silence. She nodded.

"Yeah, we'll hang out all the time outside of class."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Pinky swear?" I joked, holding out my pinky. Her lips parted into a smile, and she locked it with her pinky.

"Pinky swear."

"As much as I hate to say it, we need to get to homeroom." I muttered. "I'll help you find yours if you want."

"Okay, sure." Melanie nodded. "We can talk and stuff before then."

Okay, so, now you may be thinking we're a bunch of saps and crybabies for feeling sad about being separated. Well, number one, we are saps, but we definitely are not crybabies. Number two, when you've spent every hour of the day with someone close to you, your first day away from them can be kind of hard. It's like when a kid goes to kinder garden for the first time; lots of kids take it the hard way, and even cry till they get home. Now, we were not going to cry, but it was the same idea—we did not want to leave each other.

As we walked into the elevator, concluding that our first main priority was to get on the second floor, it seemed as though our whole lives were flashing right before us, as we looked at the glass reflection of the elevator doors. As soon as the doors opened, we spotted room 201 down the hall, up ahead. We sighed, not having much time to talk before our first big day started. I walked her to the door, still, but even then, we were completely silent. So silent, our steps could have been mistaken for earthquakes, to our ears. Finally, we reached the door, and exchanged a brief hug. "Tell me all about it, after...okay?"

She nodded, gulping. "Okay."

"Have fun." I smiled, turning to walk down the hall, bidding her adieu. I heard no footsteps from her for a bit, but finally heard the shuffle of her feet as she walked into her homeroom class. Finding my class was difficult, however. I had been walking fifteen minutes, walking in the large circled hall over and over again it seemed, and no matter how many times I circled it, I guess I must have missed the classroom constantly. I began to ran when I heard Headmaster Cid announce over the intercom that homeroom classes would be starting in five minutes. Somehow, having run so fast, I managed to find the classroom in less then thirty seconds—room 242.

The moment I stepped foot in that classroom, I could feel the awkward feeling of being alone sink in. I don't really know how to describe it, even today, but all I know is that I almost felt...scared...like, I really didn't know what to do, or where to go about. I kind of just stood in the doorway, studying the classroom with my eyes, noticing the few students in desks, looking at me look at them. Finally, I snapped out of it, and picked a random desk in the middle row to sit in.

They were not like the desks at schools. These desks had CPU's! I looked forward to being able to work on a few subjects without the difficult task of tiring my wrists out with a pencil. I took my seat, and waited quietly and shyly for the class to begin. A few students walked in, and most of them greeted each other signaling they knew each other. Sooner or later, the class was filled with chatter, and most of the seats were taken. The seat beside me was the only seat not taken, which made me feel more then isolated. Finally, a girl wearing a black sweater with a backpack slung around her arm walked in, and sat down beside me. She had turquoise eyes and dark brown hair hair. Her skin was light, and she was a little bit shorter then me, but not by much. I had no clue who she was, but at least I would not be alone.

Suddenly, a young man walked in and I felt sorry for him, considering he had no desk to sit in. Instead, he just leaned against the teacher's desk and called out to us: "All right, listen up!" I gaped. He was Instructor Eiyuu! It seemed utterly impossible, as he looked about nineteen years old! Then again, I remembered that he was not only an instructor, but as well, a SeeD, and one could become SeeD at the age of 15. If I so desired to become a SeeD this year, I could soon become an instructor, but I had no desire to do so. He had short, slightly messy dirty blonde hair, and brown eyes. He was slightly tanned, and wore black and white and very tall.

"Listen up!" he called again loudly, yet not angry. Everyone was silenced and they all looked to him, and he grinned, crossing his arms. "For those of you who have never had me before, I am Instructor Eiyuu, your homeroom teacher. For some of you, I will be teaching actual subjects, where as with the rest, the only class you will have with me is homeroom...I pity you for that." He joked, and was congratulated with a few muffled laughs.

"So basically, throughout the year, every day you wake up, you'll be seeing me!" he grinned. Again, there was laughing, and I will admit, I chuckled too. He cocked an eyebrow and laughed. "Who said it was a good thing?" there was more laughter. "Anyways, so basically, I will let you know more about SeeD information, and what not, and organize time schedules for written SeeD exams if you wish to take the test this year. I'll also have study groups and what-not.

"But first, let's take attendance, shall we?" he smiled, taking a clipboard from the desk. He called out peoples names, and they responded gingerly. He seemed like a cool enough teacher, and I liked him. My name was called out quickly. "Atae, Jesse?" he looked around the room and I raised my hand.

"Here."

He continued with the names, and soon he called out a name, and the room was in silence. "Chou, Vanessa?" he called. No answer. "Chou, Vanessa?" he called once more. Searching the room, Instructor Eiyuu's eyes trailed to the girl beside me, who was reading something I hadn't quite looked at. He bent down to the clipboard and checked off a name. "Put the manga away Vanessa." He said sharply, yet somehow gently. Vanessa, the girl beside me looked up and shook her hair slightly out of her face. She bookmarked the graphic novel and closed it, setting it inside her book bag.

My eyes widened. A manga! A girl who liked manga, besides Melanie and I. Remember how I said we usually spent what money we got on books? Well, manga fit into that category. If this "Vanessa Chou" liked manga, I had a feeling we would get to talking, someway or another. Soon, he finished the attendance list.

"All right." Instructor Eiyuu said. "So, before you meet your teachers, you'll be going to a few in-between places, such as the clubs and activities here at Balamb Garden, as well as going to see the Disciplinary Committee. At the end of the day, you'll be coming back. First is the Disciplinary Committee, which will be in room 207. Till then, scat! Scram! Be merry!" he waved his hand at us, dismissing us from the class.

I got up and gripped my bag, and looked at Vanessa who threw her book bag over her shoulder and brushed her hair to her back. "Vanessa...what manga was it you were reading?" I asked.

She looked at me with a blank look on her face. I suspected not many people asked her that, as well as liked manga. She took the graphic novel from her book bag and showed it to me. "It's 'Captain Eclipse'." she answered.

"Oh cool!" I smiled. "I love that one." It was sort of silent for a second. I put out my hand. "I'm Jesse."

She took the hand and shook it. "I'm Vanessa."

We walked out of the classroom together. I had hoped she didn't mind me following her, but I decided to give it a shot anyways. I had not had many friends besides Melanie, and was willing to try. "How long have you attended Balamb?" I asked her, trying to strike up a conversation. She thought for a moment.

"Well..." she began, counting up the years in her head. Her eyes widened. "Wow. I've been goin' here for about six years now!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Is it hard?"

"Well, kind of to get used to it." She explained. "But, after the first month, it's like you've always been doing it. Really, learning how to use your weapon is the hard part."

"So then we DO get to choose?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"What did you pick?" I asked.

"I picked the katana." She said, proudly. "It's with all the other luggage. You're allowed to start learning to use your weapon at thirteen, and then you're allowed to take it from class with you at fourteen. If I want, I can go out in the field and kill some monsters."

"Woah..." I gasped. "That's cool."

"What weapon are you gonna have?" Vanessa asked, gesturing to me.

"Oh..." I thought for a moment. I knew that once you attended Balamb, you had to choose a weapon to master, but I had no idea how to go about choosing one. There were so many choices, and according to the magazine, the choices were pretty much limitless. "I dunno, really..."

"Well, it's okay!" she smiled. "You have a week to figure out." I sighed with relief. Vanessa seemed to be a really cool person, and I was very relieved to have met someone in my class, so I was not going to be alone. Soon, we got to room 207. I remember we passed Melanie's homeroom, but when I looked in, she was gone. I suspected her class was in the same position of ours, having gone to some sort of presentation having to do with the clubs and activities of Balamb Garden. Speaking of which, it dawned on me that I had a numerous amount of choices considering the activities to choose from. I made a mental note to myself to remind myself to think about this. We each took our seats, and I was happy to see Vanessa had chosen to sit beside me, clarifying that I had indeed not freaked her out by outright speaking to her.

There were three people in the Disciplinary Committee, however, only one of them stepped up to make the speech. He had slightly slicked back blonde hair with a few stray hairs in the front, and cold, blue frowning eyes. His skin was fair, and he was well built, wearing a black t-shirt. He was about sixteen, I guessed. His voice was hard, as if he expected us to do something inappropriate. "I'm Seifer Almasy..." he introduced. "These are my partners. The girl's Fuujin, and the guy's Raijin. If you don't remember our names..." he smirked, "I know after the first couple of detentions you serve with us, you'll know our birth date, our favorite food, and maybe even our shoe size." He walked up and down the large isles.

"Ugh, he annoys me." Vanessa whispered to me. Hesitating on whether or not to carry on the conversation, I whispered back:

"Why?"

"He just does." He shrugged.

"There must be a reason." I urged. "Do you guys have some kind of history?" I asked, ignoring his speech.

She nodded. "Yeah." Said Vanessa, "We went out."

"You and him?"

"Yeah."

"Woah..."

"Like it's so hard to believe?" Vanessa giggled under her breath. "Anyways, it started out as just one of those child things, right? I was nine when I got here, and in all of his classes, somehow, and we were really fast friends."

"He seems kind of jerky..."

"Oh, he is." She assured. "But he wasn't. He used to be real nice. We would hang out in the same group ALL the time. And in a couple of months of knowing each other, we started to date. And, I mean, usually things like that don't last, right?"

"Right." I nodded.

"Well, for us, it did." She widened her eyes. "But then, we turned 13, and were still together, but not so much, right? He was into all this bad stuff and I had better things to do, I guess. So I didn't really..." she shrugged, "...see the point in staying together! It was like we weren't together anymore, anyway. So I broke up with him, and he took it REALLY hard."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "And ever since then he's been on my case, giving me unfair detentions and stuff. But I don't care. But watch out for him."

Having heard this, I turned to look at Seifer, who was looking right at us, frowning. His frown broke into a smile and he walked over to our seats. "Vanessa Chou...it's been a while." He smiled.

"Not long enough." She smirked.

"Still have the guts to show your face here, I see." He nodded to her. He looked at me and smirked. "And you. You're new. Don't start off on the bad foot, got it? And don't bother hanging out with trash like Ness, here."

Vanessa burst in a laughing fit. "You think I'm trash?" she asked. "At least I shower."

The whole class broke out into giggles and Seifer frowned. He bent over, putting both hands on Vanessa's desk, holding his head four inches away from hers. "I hope you like detention." He smiled.

"I hope you know I don't care." She smiled back.

"I HOPE YOU LIKE TWO!" he banged her desk and walked away. I gazed at her, in shock of her bravery. This guy obviously had some sort of problem, and she just passed by him like an angry kitty cat. She did not fret about the detentions, and it occurred to me that the numerous amounts given to her for stupid reasons must have made her senses for them numb. She winked back at me, and we listened to the rest of Seifer's long and droning speech, mostly consisting on how he was going to "get us".

One thing I noticed is that Seifer had no faith in our behaviors, yet the only one he picked on throughout the whole speech was Vanessa. I also wondered whether or not Seifer took the break up the hard way because he really liked her, or just because having a girlfriend did something to his social status. It was strange, but, although he seemed incredibly jerky, I didn't necessarily despise Seifer Almasy. I would have to wait until he gave me a reason to despise him.

The day seemed to have been flying by, by the time the lunch bell rang. Vanessa offered me to come and sit with her and her friends at lunch, but I knew that I had to go and meet up with Melanie. Finding her would be the problem. The amount of students was insane, and probably not even the full amount at the moment. The faint sounds of music came from all corners of the cafeteria, obviously from radios and even students making their own "sound". When someone turned up their radio to the song of "Shouzen naru mama ni" by Do As Infinity, I mentally praised them, having enjoyed the song.

As I stood in line for the cafeteria, I examined the food offered. Most of the food seemed decent enough to enjoy, especially the hotdogs, which had been running out. Quickly taking a carton of fries, I walked over to the hotdogs and picked out the last one. I thought I heard a groan behind me, but ignored it and continued on to the beverages. As I got my tray ready, I searched the cafeteria for my cousin. I spotted her sitting by herself, eating her chicken burger and slurping her soft drink. I happily bounced over to her table and sat down. "Hey!" I greeted with a smile, as the song changed.

"Hey." She grinned. "How was class?"

"Just about to ask the same." I chuckled, munching on one of my fries. Dissatisfied with its bitterness, I ripped open a salt packet and drenched the fries in salt, considering I hated ketchup, oddly enough. I had seen Melanie earlier, considering she was in my English class, however, that was the only class we had together. Ironically enough, the only class we had together was the only class me and Vanessa didn't have together. "Class for me was great. Got to meet all my teachers, and got a schedule. You?"

"It was great!" she nodded. "Not much out of the ordinary. Trepe is cool. How 'bout Eiyuu?"

"He's really cool." I smirked. "Young too, so it's easy to understand him."

"Mine's young too." Melanie remarked. "This is her first year teaching. She's sixteen!"

My eyes widened. "A lot younger then mine. He's about nineteen, say...twenty or something like that."

"Well, I suppose it depends on when you get in SeeD and which direction you end up taking."

"Yeah." I bit into my hotdog. "Holy sh...these are good! No wonder they go so fast!"

Melanie giggled. "I'll have to take one of them next time." She shrugged. "I only got the salad, which is dry, and the dressing, which is sour."

"Ew." I simply said, making a face. Looking around the cafeteria, Melanie and I noticed a lineup in front of a table. Behind the table were two Balamb Garden students, who had some form of sign-up sheets of some sort. Looking around the cafeteria, it hit me. Some students were wearing uniforms, while others were not. I looked under the table, and sure enough, there were boxes holding delicate Balamb uniforms.

I quickly finished my lunch, and drank my soft drink within a few seconds. I had always had that gift, to drink my beverage faster then anyone else around me. Between drinking and eating, I preferred a cold glass of soda over a steak. I got up and picked up my tray once I noticed Melanie was finished. "Mel, we need to get our uniforms."

"We do?" she asked, standing up with her tray. The two of us walked over to the trash and poured our remaining leftovers in and the trays on top.

"Yeah, that table over there." I shook my head in the direction of the table.

"Oh, okay." She shrugged. "Do you think they're nice?"

"Well, take a look around." I said to her, looking around at the students wearing uniforms. "I say so, but I dunno 'bout you."

"Yeah, they're nice." Melanie nodded with a satisfied look upon her face.

Needless to say, we ended up getting the uniforms, which were thankfully payed for by the school. Comfort wasn't an issue, as the outfit seemed something casual enough to wear outside of school. That was the case for my uniform, but I didn't necessarily bother Melanie enough to ask if hers was comfortable. I have never worn a skirt before, but I imagined if I did, it would be most uncomfortable. Then again, Melanie did not show any signs of being uncomfortable and instead just walked along with me like she always had.

The two main colors of the uniforms were black and gold. For my uniform, I had a black long sleeved top with a zipper down the middle, signaling that I could leave it unzipped with a shirt underneath it if I so desired. The color was flipped up permanently, as it was attached to the golden patterned shoulder pads. Unlike most shirts and jackets, this top ended right above the belt, showing it was a little shorter in length then most. I at first wondered if I had got a size shorter then what I received, but they told me it was how the design was planned out to be. On both sides of my chest were two golden zipper pockets, with a golden line going down the black material. My belt was black with a silver buckle, and my black pants were slightly baggy. I did not receive any special shoes, and apparently was allowed my own shoes, as long as they were not in contrast with the rest of my outfit.

Melanie's uniform was also, of course, black and gold. Her top was long sleeved as well, and seemingly sweater-like, yet its material was thin. Melanie's black color was flipped down, and had two golden lines going around it as a pattern. At the end of her sleeves were the same golden line patterns. Unlike my uniform, Melanie did not have any golden zipper pockets, but instead had a big golden bow tied around her neck underneath the collar, and coming out of the opening in the collar. Underneath the bow was a golden zipper as well, but she would not be able to leave it open due to the bow. Her skirt was black and went slightly above her knees, and she wore black socks that went slightly below her knees. She was given loafers, but did not have to wear them if she chose not to.

So far, my day had been an eventful and long day. I met someone knew, which had not happened often despite my old home of Deling, and I received my uniform. My teachers weren't bad. For instance, my math teacher was Instructor Eiyuu.

My English teacher was named Instructor Trestner. She was a woman at about 30, I guessed, and apparently had much experience in the SeeD department. From the moment I walked in the classroom, I could tell she was a nice lady, but I could also tell she was strict and wasn't about to be pushed around. She had slightly curled brown hair, and hard blue eyes. Her lips seemed to always be in a smiling position. She was thin, and had long fingers. However, she was also a beautiful lady, despite the fact that she looked aged beyond her years. From the first speech she spoke to us, I could tell she was passionate about literature.

My science teacher was a girl as well and younger then Instructor Trestner. Her name was Instructor Miorii, yet she encouraged us to call her by her first name, Anna. She looked no older then twenty four, and had long dyed white hair in a ponytail. She wore sunglasses atop her head that never seemed to touch her brown eyes. She seemed pretty cool, as when she talked to us, she talked to us as equals, and still like a teenager. However, she did know her stuff, and I could tell she was going to make teaching more fun.

The day was cut short, and the final place to go was back to homeroom for a quick announcement. The rest of the day, after that, was ours. After lunch, I bid Melanie goodbye, and told her if I had free time, depending on the announcement in homeroom, I'd meet her in the lobby. Once lunch hour ended at one o'clock, we strolled back to our homerooms, surprisingly with ease.

"Hey," Vanessa greeted as I sat beside her in Eiyuu's class. The only three in the classroom were Vanessa, me, and Instructor Eiyuu himself. "Did you survive lunch?"

I chuckled shifted in my seat. "Yeah, it was cool."

"So, Vanessa, whatcha reading nowadays?" Instructor Eiyuu suddenly asked, crossing his arms as he sat at the end of his desk.

"Captain Eclipse." She flashed her manga at him. "But I'm waiting for Saihossoku to get out."

"You saw that in the flyer, eh?" he asked.

"Yeah." She nodded, laughing slightly. "But I dunno, I'm pretty far in Captain Eclipse, so...I dunno."

"How far are you?" I asked, jumping in the conversation.

She thought for a moment. "Volume ten."

"I got up to volume 12." I smiled. "If you want, you can borrow them."

"Really?" she asked happily.

"Yeah, sure, I don't mind." I shrugged.

"Ness has got a new manga fan play toy." Eiyuu joked, gesturing to me. Vanessa rolled her eyes and laughed, and the three of us went silent once more students walked in. I was surprised that Eiyuu was familiar with the term "manga". Whether or whether not he used to read manga was a mystery to me, but he seemed familiar with the manga flyer that Vanessa had obviously seen Saihossoku advertised in. Soon, the class was filled. Instructor Eiyuu stood up in front of the class.

"Okay, I got three things to talk about." He said. He put up his index finger. "One: you newbies are going to have to choose weapons. That's right, during the course of these years in this fine school, you will have to master, without fail, a weapon of your choice." I had heard about this before, but to hear it actually being said by an instructor at Balamb was far more adrenalin. "There will be weapon sign up sheets in the lobby for a few days." He held up his middle finger beside his index finger. "Two: along with those sign up sheets, there will be extra curricular activity sign up sheets." He held up the next finger. "And three: I will be handing out sheets that have your room numbers on them, so you can put your stuff in your dorms."

He began calling out names, and finally came to my name. I turned to Vanessa and waved, and received by room number: room 320. Walking out of the classroom, I made my way to the dorms, which wasn't too hard to find from the cafeteria.

The dorms were, surprisingly, more beautiful then I imagined. The halls in the dorms were barely inside, only having a roof above them, held up with pillars. Through those pillars were beautiful gardens full of flowers and grass, with trees, and benches. I realized that the more I saw of Balamb Garden, the better it seemed. I told myself to enjoy it, because in a few weeks I'll probably beg to get out of the schoolwork. Maybe...I don't know if I could ever beg to go back to Deling. Ever.

I finally came to the "3" rooms, and found 320. I inserted the key Eiyuu had given me and walked into my new home. There was a small living area outside of the two rooms, which I suspected were me and my roommate's. Straight ahead of me was an empty room on the right side, of the dorm, and I quickly ran to it and threw my belongings down on the bed, after a long day of lugging them around. I walked out of the room at the same time as my roommate, it seemed.

He was taller then me, and more built. He was substantially more tanned then me, considering my nearly pale skin. His hair was black and his eyes were brown, and he wore his uniform with the top unzipped, flashing a black shirt underneath. I remembered her was in a lot of my classes. "Hey." I greeted, shaking his hand. "I'm Jesse Atae, you're roommate, I guess."

"Hi, I'm Michael Kétség, but you can call me Mike, Jesse." He shook back.

"Your first year?" I asked.

"No, third." He nodded.

"Ah, that's cool." I smiled. "Well, it was nice to meet you, but I gotta get going. See you around!" I waved as I walked out of the dorm. He waved back and said goodbye.

I made my way to the lobby, where I found Melanie leaning against a wall, watching the sun set. I walked over to her and leaned beside her. "Hey."

"Hey, how was your dorm?"

"Cool." I smiled. "My roommates name is Mike. He's in our math class. How 'bout you?"

"Taylor." said Melanie. "She's younger then I am, but not by much. It's her first year in Balamb, too, so we have a lot to talk about."

"I'll say." I remarked. There was an awkward silence, as we reminisced the recent events of the day. I realized that the only bad thing about today was when I found out Melanie and I weren't in the same homeroom. I scoffed. "Stupid homerooms!"

**A/N: **And, done! Well, it was longer then the first chapter, lol. I hope the length wasn't TOO unbearable for you readers. Anyways, review, and you get another oreo! Stay tuned!


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